Hold Still
Hold your pad. Lift only on the real signal. First to 3.
Hold Still is a two-player nerve game where both players keep a finger on their pad while a light tries to fool them with flickers and a fake countdown. Lift only when it bursts green, and lift first to score; move early and your rival scores.
Both of you press a finger on your pad and hold your breath while the light in the middle tries to fool you with flickers, shakes and a fake 3, 2, 1. Flinch and your rival scores; hold your nerve and the real signal becomes a race to lift.
- How you hold it
- Face-off
- Match
- First to 3
- Length
- Under a minute
- Play
- Friend or bot
How to play Hold Still: quick rules
Under a minute at first to 3. Full rules, options and bot levels are further down.
- 1Keep your finger on your pad.
- 2The light will try to fool you. Don't move!
- 3Lift only when it bursts green. First to lift scores.
- 4Lift early or slide off and your rival scores.
Hold Still rules
Setup
- Each player has a round pad in their own half, and a beacon light sits in the middle where both can see it.
- To start a point, both players touch down on their own pad and keep holding. A finger that slides onto the pad doesn't count.
- When both are holding, a 3, 2, 1 countdown runs. Lifting during the countdown just goes back to the start, with no penalty.
The wait and the fakes
- After the countdown comes a wait of a few seconds, different every point.
- During the wait the beacon tries to fool you: a yellow flicker, a purple flash, a shake, a drum roll, a fake count that stops at 1, or a green outline that is almost the real thing. With Shaky table on, the whole table can wobble too.
- The real signal is unmistakable: the whole light fills green with a white burst.
Scoring
- Flinch: lift your finger, or slide it off your pad, before the real signal and your rival gets the point.
- Race: after the signal, the first player to lift scores. Both lift times are shown.
- After a point, a finger still down stays held for the next one.
Ties and replays
- If both players lift (or both flinch) at almost exactly the same instant, it's "Too close!" and the point is replayed.
- If nobody lifts within 3 seconds of the signal, the point is replayed.
- If three points in a row are replayed this way, the third is settled by a coin toss.
- Pausing mid-point cancels it; both players put their fingers back down to start again.
Winning
- First to the target wins: 3, 5 or 7 points. A match never ends drawn.
Tips to win at Hold Still
- 1Watch for the full green fill with a white burst. A green outline, a flicker or a fake count is never the signal.
- 2Keep your finger relaxed and still in the middle of your pad, so a twitch or a drift never slides you off.
- 3Don't try to guess when the signal comes. The wait changes every point, so react to the light, not the clock.
- 4On Wild fakes, lifting a fraction later is fine. A slow lift only loses the race, but a flinch hands your rival the point.
Controls
Phone flat between you. Each player owns a half, and the far half faces the far player.
- Touch down on your pad and keep holding. Lift to flinch or to race.
- Your finger can wander a little, but sliding well past the pad's edge counts as a lift ("Slipped off!").
- One hold per player; extra fingers in your half are ignored.
- Holding the exit tab with your other hand never counts as a lift.
Options
Every option is free. Defaults are marked.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| First to | 3 (default)57 | The score that wins the match. |
| Fakes | Calm (default)Wild | Calm gives a few fakes per point; Wild throws them much more often. |
| Shaky table (extra) | On (default)Off | Adds a fake where the whole table wobbles. |
| Drifting pad (extra) | OnOff (default) | Pads drift slowly sideways during the wait; follow yours or slip off. |
| Long wait (extra) | OnOff (default) | The wait can last up to 14 seconds instead of 9. |
Play Hold Still against the bot
The bot holds Blue's pad with a virtual finger and sees only what the beacon shows. Its nerve can break on a fake, and it never knows when the real signal is coming.
Easy
Falls for fakes fairly often and lifts slowly on the real signal.
Normal
Only now and then falls for a fake, and lifts at a fair human pace.
Hard
Rarely flinches and lifts quickly on the signal. Fast, calm hands can still beat it.
Online, tournaments and hints
- Online
- One phone onlyEvery point is a split-second race to lift on the same signal, so Hold Still stays on one phone.
- Tournament
- Can be drawn in a tournamentIn a tournament it uses the default options: first to 3, Calm fakes and Shaky table on.
- Hints
- No hints here: it's all about your own reactions.
How it feels
- A faint hum and a heartbeat line that spikes on each fake.
- A bright rising chime and a strong buzz on the real signal, so you get the cue even while watching your pad.
- A sad buzz and a smear on your pad when you flinch.
- Haptics follow your phone's settings and the in-app vibration switch.
Accessibility
- The real signal is a burst shape and a full fill, so it can be told apart without colour; the green fake is an outline only.
- Fakes flash only the small bulb, never the whole screen, and never more than 3 times a second.
- One finger per player.
- With reduced motion on, the table wobble, shakes and expanding rings are dropped.
Hold Still questions
Both players hold a finger on their pad while the light in the middle shows fakes. Lift early and your rival scores; when the real green burst comes, the first to lift scores. First to 3 points wins.
You start with your finger already down, so the hard part is not moving through the fakes. Only after the real signal does it become a speed race.
Stay calm and wait for the full green burst. A flinch gives your rival a free point, so it's better to lift a little late than a little early.
Yes. Lay the phone flat between you; each player holds the pad at their own end and both watch the same light.
Yes, against a bot on Easy, Normal or Hard. It can be fooled by the fakes too, and never knows when the signal is coming.
No. Every point is a split-second race to lift on the same signal, so Hold Still stays on one phone.
Play Hold Still on one phone
Free on Android. Sit face to face, or take on the bot on Easy, Normal or Hard.
